Edward Tsumele

Edward Tsumele

David Kabi, pictured, a playwright and emerging screenwriter from North West, is a happy man. His radio play Changes, which aired twice on Motsweding FM last year, has been recommissioned.

It will be flighted on Motsweding at noon today . This will be the first of 42 episodes .

The prolific playwright, who a few years ago was known for penning stories for the stage, has also written a longer version of Changes adapted specially for television.

"This story is ready for TV, ready to be turned into a 13-part drama series," says Kabi. It is an authentic South African story. I have pitched it for television, and from the look of things it should get the nod from television bosses."

Changes is set on a farm in North West, and tells of the often uneasy relationship between farmers and farmworkers, the balance of power between the farmer and farmworkers, white and black, and the complex issue of race relations and racism.

Korrie is a young Afrikaans boy who witnesses his father kill a black man and bury him in a shallow grave. Korrie is close to the blacks on his father's farm and makes a decision to change his father's behaviour, particularly towards his employees on the farm.

After graduating with a law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, he terminates his relationship with Mollie, his white girlfriend, only to fall in love with a black girl, against his father's wishes.

The tension that develops because of this complex web in the relationship between Korrie and the black workers, and because he dumps his white girlfriend for a black girl, provides the meat for this juicy story that to all intents and purposes should provide good viewing if it goes on TV.

This is a truly South African story that should find resonance with a lot of the country's viewers.

In the meantime, you can tune in to Motsweding FM this afternoon to get a taste of what promises to be an exciting story.